Dame Elizabeth Taylor, Hollywood actress, dies aged 79

Dame Elizabeth Taylor, the distinguished film actress, has died. She was 79.

The English-American actress, considered one of the great performers of Hollywood's golden age, was born in London on 27 February 1932.

The double Oscar-winner, was was married eight times, had a long history of ill health. Last month she was treated in hospital in Los Angeles for congestive heart failure. In 2009 she had heart surgery.

In a statement her son, Michael Wilding, said: "My Mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humor, and love. Though her loss is devastating to those of us who held her so close and so dear, we will always be inspired by her enduring contribution to our world.

"Her remarkable body of work in film, her ongoing success as a businesswoman, and her brave and relentless advocacy in the fight against HIV/AIDS, all make us all incredibly proud of what she accomplished.

"We know, quite simply, that the world is a better place for Mom having lived in it. Her legacy will never fade, her spirit will always be with us, and her love will live forever in our hearts."

The Oscar-winning star died this morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from congestive heart failure, according to her spokeswoman Sally Morrison.

She said the actress's children were at her side.

Dame Elizabeth had been taken to the hospital with congestive heart failure six weeks ago.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said: "She passed away at 1.28 (LA time) this morning."

Dame Elizabeth won two Oscars in the 1960s, for her roles in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Butterfield 8.

She was also nominated for the Best Actress award three times, including one for her acclaimed performance opposite Paul Newman in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1958.

But she was also well known for a colourful personal life that included two tempestuous marriages to Welsh film star Richard Burton.

In 1960, she became the highest paid actress of her time when 20th Century Fox signed her up for $1 million to appear in the epic Cleopatra. It was during filming that her romance started with co-star Burton (who played Mark Antony) – a liaison that grabbed headlines as both were already married.

The star married for the first time at age 18 in 1950 to Conrad Hilton, the hotel baron who is great-uncle of the socialite sisters Paris and Nicky, but they split after a year.

She then exchanged rings in 1952 with Michael Wilding and the couple had two sons during a five-year relationship. After a one-year union with film producer Mike Todd, next up was singer Eddie Fisher who caused a scandal by abandoning Debbie Reynolds, with whom he was the father of Carrie Fisher, for Taylor in 1959.

It is Burton, the hard-living Welsh star, who is often regarded as having been the true love of her life, even if their relationship was often rocky. They first wed in 1964 and the marriage lasted ten years – a record for Dame Elizabeth.

She married construction worker Larry Fortensky in a ceremony at Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch in 1991. They went their separate ways in 1996.

Taylor is survived by four children, 10, grand children, and four great grandchildren. A private funeral is to be held this week.